Biography of Queen Henrietta Maria » Biographies » Queen Henrietta Maria Queen Henrietta Maria, 1609-69 Loyal, courageous and devoted to King Charles I, but her influence added to the atmosphere of mistrust that surrounded the King. Henrietta Maria was born in Paris on 26 November 1609 (NS), the youngest daughter of King Henri IV of France and Marie de Medici. She was taught riding, dancing and singing and received religious instruction from the Carmelite nuns. Her marriage to Charles, Prince of Wales, required a special dispensation from the Pope because it was the first time that a Catholic princess had married a Protestant prince. Politically, it was a move towards an alliance between France and England against Spain. The marriage took place in May 1625 when Henrietta was 15 and Charles was 24. Her Catholicism alarmed the English Parliament, and she was not allowed to be crowned alongside her husband when he succeeded to the throne of the Three Kingdoms as King Charles I in February 1626.

Catholic Queen Consort Apart from their religious differences, the royal couple were opposites in character and temperament: Charles was sober and aloof, Henrietta was stylish and vivacious. During the first three years of their marriage, Charles was influenced by his overbearing favourite the Duke of Buckingham , and neglected Henrietta Maria almost to the point of estrangement. But when Buckingham was assassinated in 1628, Charles transferred his affections to the Queen, and they quickly became devoted to one another. During the 1630s, the court of King Charles and Queen Henrietta Maria was admired throughout Europe. The King's impeccable taste in art and the formality of court ritual gave an appearance of sophistication; the Queen's encouragement of dancing, music and theatre added warmth and polite gaiety. Elaborate masques were staged by Inigo Jones and Ben Jonson to dramatise the ideals of the Stuart monarchy. To the horror of many Puritans, the Queen herself sometimes took part in the performances. Increasingly, King Charles discussed affairs of state with Henrietta Maria.

He valued her opinions and advice, but because she remained a practising Roman Catholic, her influence was viewed with extreme suspicion, particularly as several prominent courtiers converted to Catholicism and a papal representative was received in England for the first time since the Reformation. When the King needed money to finance the Bishops' Wars (1639-40), the Queen raised funds by appealing to English Catholics. Her further appeals to the Vatican itself fuelled Protestant fears of a Popish conspiracy against England. She was even suspected of inciting the Irish Uprising of 1641. Rumours that members of the Long Parliament were planning to impeach the Queen prompted King Charles to make his disastrous attempt to arrest the Five Members in January 1642. “She-Majesty, Generalissima” In February 1642, when civil war looked inevitable, Henrietta Maria left England for the Netherlands—the King galloping along the cliff tops to keep her ship in sight until the last sail had vanished below the horizon. She spent almost a year in The Hague, raising loans, buying weapons and recruiting troops for the Royalist cause.

By selling or pawning jewels, she raised a large fortune which financed several convoys of weapons and ammunition and a company of veteran professional soldiers to fight for the King. Braving storms and attack by Parliament's warships, she returned to England in February 1643, landing at Bridlington in Yorkshire. Henrietta stayed with the Earl (later Marquis) of Newcastle at York. She participated in Newcastle's secret negotiations with the Parliamentarian commanders Sir Hugh Cholmley at Scarborough and Sir John Hotham at Hull. Persuaded by the Queen, Cholmley defected and delivered Scarborough Castle to the Royalists. By the summer of 1643, Royalist victories in the Midlands made it relatively safe for Henrietta to move south at the head of her army, styling herself "Her She-Majesty, Generalissima". On 13 July 1643, she was reunited with the King, who had chosen the site of the battlefield of Edgehill as a suitably dramatic rendezvous. They made a triumphal entry into Oxford the following day. The Queen remained at Oxford until 1644.

She attempted to arrange a marriage between the Prince of Wales and the daughter of the Prince of Orange in the hope that the Dutch would intervene in the war against Parliament. When she became pregnant with her ninth child, she decided to withdraw to Bath for her confinement and parted from King Charles at Abingdon on 17 April 1644—the last time they would see one another. The Earl of Essex was marching into the West Country and forced the Queen to withdraw further west to Exeter, where she gave birth to a daughter on 16 June. Fearing that Essex intended to take her hostage, she took ship from Falmouth on 14 July 1644 and escaped to France. Granted a small allowance by the French government, Henrietta Maria established households at the palace of St Germain and the Louvre. She kept up an intimate correspondence with King Charles in England, doing her best to persuade him to be more flexible in negotiations after his military defeat in 1645, and tirelessly engaging in schemes and intrigues to gain foreign help for the Royalist cause. Dowager Queen Mother Henrietta Maria - the forgotten Queen? | History of government Henrietta Maria - the forgotten Queen?

— The Monarchy The British Civil Wars has always interested me and International Women's Day prompted me to focus my blog post on a crucial, controversial, yet often overlooked, figure in British history, Henrietta Maria. I came across little, other than biographical histories, of the French Queen, to whom Charles I was seemingly devoted. In an era where all women were expected to be obedient and submissive, playing no role in the 'male' sphere of government, this omission may seem understandable. However, the more I delved into Henrietta Maria, the more apparent it became that she contradicted these 17th-century expectations of feminine ideals. And the more she seemed, to me, to represent a head-strong, loyal and driven Queen, who worked tirelessly for the Royalist cause. Papist Conspiracy? Considering the lack of detailed history (until more recent works) regarding her involvement in the Civil War, Henrietta Maria was certainly a divisive figure to contemporaries. Even pre-Civil War, Henrietta Maria, being a French Catholic, was not a popular figure in England. However, her unpopularity reached new heights in 1642, as she was now seen as a meddling French Catholic, who had undue influence on the King.

Certainly, Parliamentary propaganda was quick to show her as such. It played particularly on the people's fear of a restoration of Catholicism. This was a constant source of mistrust and suspicion, with Henrietta Maria being accused – throughout the duration of the War- of being involved in a wider 'papist conspiracy'. This was not helped by the Irish rebels in 1641 calling themselves the 'Queen's Army' and claiming to be acting upon Royal orders. By 1644, a Parliamentary pamphlet ‘ Great Eclipse of the Sun’ (held at the British Library), saw Parliament still claiming that ‘ …the King was eclipsed by the Queen, and she perswaded him that the Darknesse was Light and that it was better to be a Papist, then a Protestant…’. Although Charles remained protestant, Henrietta Maria nonetheless sought catholic help in raising troops and money to defend her husband's cause. She turned to her native France for money and Ireland for troops.

In a letter unveiled in the King's Cabinet Opened in 1644, Charles wrote to his wife that: 'I give thee power to promise in my name…that I will take away all penal laws against the Roman Catholics in England…I… trust in thee as if thou wert a Protestant…' Though the extent of her influence over Charles is debateable, Henrietta Maria's own Catholicism was a genuine source of contention between the two sides, causing a greater division than there may have been otherwise. An 'obstacle' to peace? Whether it was due to having the 'misfortune' of being both Catholic and French, or simply her tireless efforts in aiding the Royalist cause, Henrietta was regarded by many Parliamentarians as being an 'obstacle' to peace in England. After attempts by Parliament to negotiate with Charles I in 1642 and 1645, Henrietta Maria made her feelings known to Charles I. The Uxbridge Treaty of 1645 stated that Parliament should have the right to control the militia and foreign policy; the Solemn League and Covenant must be adhered to by Charles; and episcopacy must be abolished.

Henrietta Maria – some might argue quite shrewdly - warned her husband that 'if you consent to this, you shall be lost'. Charles and Henrietta Maria, believing in the Divine Right of the monarch to rule, vehemently opposed any infringement on the rights and power to rule. This would explain Henrietta's relentless efforts to raise money by pawning jewellery in Holland as well as attempting to persuade the Danish crown to lend support. It also explains, however, why Parliament attacked her so vehemently, calling for her impeachment in 1644. Parliament's newspaper, Mercurius Britanicus (collection held at the British Library ), in response to Charles ending his letters to Henrietta Maria, as ‘eternally thine’, mockingly claimed that: ‘…himself, breeches and all, are resigned up into her hands for all eternity…it were ridiculous in a private man, much more a King, to submit to the will of his wife…’ She was, in Parliament's view, a scapegoat for Charles' weak government and inability to rule - Charles did not represent the ideals of masculinity, and Henrietta Maria did not conform to the prevailing ideas of a woman's role.

In summary she was one of the constant leading Royalist figures and regardless of the extent of her influence over Charles, her role within the Civil War was of great importance; her perceived influence deepened the division between the two sides. She was a genuine concern for contemporaries, 'invading' the male sphere of politics and threatening the natural order of authority, and, in some ways, contributed to the downfall of her husband. Because of this, she must not be banished to the side-lines of the history of the British Civil Wars. An example of Parliament's newsbook from 1643 (The National Archives reference: SP9/245/19). Other editions are available at the British Library. Further Reading: Anon, Great Eclipse of the Sun, or Charles His Waine Overclouded, by the Evill Influences of the Moon, the Malignancie of other Ill-aspected Planets and the Constellations of Retrograde and Irregular Starres (1644). Held at the British Library.

Fairfax, T., The King's Cabinet opened: Or, certain packets of secret letters & papers (London, 1645) Held at the British Library and a copy available to view on Google Books. White, M. A., Henrietta Maria and the English Civil War (Aldershot, 2006) Bone, Q., Henrietta Maria: Queen of the Cavaliers (Wiltshere, 1973) Marshall, R., Henrietta Maria, The Intrepid Queen (London, 1990) Exploring Maryland's Roots: Library: Charles I (1600-1649) and Henrietta Maria (1609-1669) Charles I, King of England (1600-1649) and Henrietta Maria, Queen of England (1609-1669) King Charles I was the English king who signed the Charter of Maryland, making Maryland a colony. King Charles I reigned in England from 1625 to 1649. He was the second member of the Stuart family to rule England and Scotland jointly.

King Charles knew that George Calvert had been a wise secretary of state for the king's father, James I. Charles I signed the Charter of Maryland in 1635, making George Calvert and his heirs Proprietors of Maryland. But George Calvert died before the Charter was ready to be signed. George's son, Cecil Calvert, Second Lord Baltimore, recieved the province of Maryland from King Charles I. During his reign, Charles I made certain that Cecil Calvert could maintain control of his colony. However, the English Civil Wars between Parliament and Charles I, left the possession of the Maryland Province in question. To learn more about history during King Charles I's reign, see his page from History of the Monarchy, on the Official Website of the British Monarchy . Maryland got its name from Henrietta Maria. She was the daughter of King Henry IV of France and Marie de Médici of Italy. In 1625, Henrietta Maria married King Charles I and became Queen of England. King Charles I's choice to make Henrietta Maria his wife was controversial because she and her family were Roman Catholics rather than members of the Church of England.

Queen Henrietta Maria was unpopular with many English people and members of Parliament because she assisted English Catholics like the Calverts. The Calverts chose to name their new province in North American, Mary-land, (�Terra Mariae�) in the queen's honor. Henrietta Maria's life was difficult due to the English Civil Wars that occurred during her husband's reign. She had to flee England while her husband was on trial for treason against his nation. She went to the Netherlands to raise money and soldiers to support King Charles I. In 1649, King Charles I was executed by Parliament. Henrietta Maria went home to France and entered a convent. She returned briefly to England in 1660, to see her eldest son crowned King Charles II. Another son, King James II ruled from 1685 to 1688. Henrietta Maria died in Paris at the age of 51 in 1669. LINKED DOCUMENTS OR IMAGES: King Charles I's biography from a British perspective, in History of the Monarchy section, Official Website of the British Monarchy.

The Charter of Maryland , SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (Huntingfield Corporation Collection) "A Relation of the Successefull beginnings of the Lord Baltemore's Plantation in Mary-land: The Charter of Maryland, 1635." MSA SC 1399-526 also titled: "A Relation of Successfull beginnings of the Lord Baltimore's Plantation in Mary-land," (1635). Click here to view The Charter online at Museum Without Walls, online exhibit of the Maryland State Archives, October 23, 2002. "Maryland named for Queen Henritta Maria ," Maryland State Archives, May 29, 2002. Henrietta Maria, Queen Consort of England, oil painting by the Studio of Anthony Van Dyck, 1632. Courtesy of Commission on Artistic Property, Maryland State Archives, MSA SC 1545-1100. © 2017 Maryland Public Television. All Rights Reserved.

Mary Henrietta Stuart, The First Princess Royal | History And Other Thoughts Mary Henrietta Stuart, The First Princess Royal 09:30 history , mary henrietta stuart Princess Royal is the customary title given to the eldest daughter of the British monarch. It was first bestowed, in 1642, on Princess Mary Henrietta Stuart, the eldest daughter of King Charles I and his French-born wife Henrietta Maria. The eldest daughter of the King of France was styled Madame Royale and the doting mother wanted to honour her child in a similar way. Born on November 4, 1631 at St James' Palace in London, Princess Mary Henrietta Stuart had many suitors from an early age. They included the Elector Palatine Karl, her first cousin, who, much to his chagrin, wasn't considered grand enough for a Princess of England, and Prince Balthasar Charles of Spain, another first cousin, who was too Catholic to please the English. A much more prestigious, and most importantly Protestant, candidate was William, the heir of the Prince of Orange. Although Mary's parents weren't too pleased with this match, the couple were married in 1641.

Mary was only 9 at the time, while the dashing but quite William 15. Mary and William's wedding was to be one of the last few joyous occasions during the reign of Charles I. Rebellion and civil war were looming, and this gloomy state of affairs was to blame for the modest wedding and reception the couple was given. Rather than a grand ball and sumptuous banquet, after the ceremony, the family had dinner and then walked to Hyde Park to allow people to see the newly-weds. That night, the couple was "bedded" together. The marriage could be declared consummated when the bare legs of the bride and groom touched, so Geoffrey Hudson, the Princess' dwarf, cut her nightdress up to the knee. Although the couple wouldn't properly consummate their union for a few years, the Princess, accompanied by her mother, left for the Hague the following year. The King rode along to the cliff's edge at Dover, waving his hat to bid farewell to his favourite daughter. He would never see her again. The Hague's court wasn't as glamorous as the English one, but the lively, fun loving princess did her best to fit in.

It helped that she was fond of her husband and their union turned out to be a happy one. As for the court, they livened it up when William succeeded his father in 1647. But three years later, tragedy struck. Willem died, two days after turning 19. Mary, now a widow, was heavily pregnant with their first child. Eight days after her husband's death, she gave birth to a boy, Willem. Mary must have been relieved to have given birth to an heir, but she was still left in a very difficult position. Her newborn son wouldn't obviously be able to rule for years, so a regency was needed. Her husband had designated Mary for such a role, but had forgot to sign the important document, which was therefore worthless. After much talk and rows, the regency would be bestowed on three people: Mary, her mother-in-law, and Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg, who was the baby's uncle by marriage. Mary didn't like the arrangement, but she was powerless to stop it, especially now that her family, after a disastrous civil war, couldn't help her. They were all either imprisoned and exiled.

So, the princess started distancing herself from the court and its affairs. Instead, she welcomed her brothers and their supporters, creating a court of exiled British aristocrats at the Hague. This didn't really go down well with the Dutch, who had always considered Mary too haughty and frivolous. She was eventually banned from having any contact with her family, so the defiant princess just started travelling with them around Europe, acting as her brother's hostess and trying to gain support for the Stuart's cause. The Stuarts were back in Holland, though, when, in May 1660, a message arrived, asking Charles to return and take his throne. Mary was ecstatic, and, once her brother was King, travelled back to her native country. She almost didn't make it, as her boat was caught up in a storm and almost sunk, but in the end, she managed to arrived safely in England, where she presided over the celebrations for the succession. But the princess wouldn't enjoy her family's triumph for long. That December she caught smallpox and, on Christmas Eve, died at Whitehall. She was just 29 years old.

Her son would one day sit on the English throne together with his wife Mary, the daughter of her brother James. Further reading: Henrietta Maria | queen consort of England | Britannica.com queen consort of England Henry Wilmot, 1st earl of Rochester Henrietta Maria, French Henriette-Marie (born Nov. 25, 1609, Paris —died Sept. 10, 1669, Château de Colombes , near Paris), French wife of King Charles I of England and mother of Kings Charles II and James II . By openly practicing Roman Catholicism at court, she alienated many of Charles’s subjects, but during the first part of the English Civil Wars she displayed courage and determination in mustering support for the king’s cause. Henrietta Maria, detail of an oil painting after Sir Anthony Van Dyck; in the National Portrait … Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London Henrietta Maria was the daughter of King Henry IV of France and Marie de Médicis . Throughout her childhood she was surrounded by political intrigue; her father was assassinated six months after her birth, and when she was seven her mother was banished from Paris.

In 1625, at the age of 15, she was married to Charles. At first the insolence with which she was treated by Charles’s favourite, George Villiers, 1st duke of Buckingham, severely strained her relationship with the king, but after the assassination of Buckingham (August 1628) Charles fell in love with his wife. She was a patron of drama and generally presided over a lively court. As the Civil War approached, Henrietta Maria began to meddle in politics. She sought without success to instigate a military coup to overthrow the Parliamentarians, and her efforts to enlist support for the king from the pope, the French, and the Dutch infuriated many Englishmen. When war broke out in August 1642, she was in the Netherlands raising funds for her husband. She landed at Bridlington, Yorkshire, in February 1643 and set about reinvigorating the Royalist cause in northern England. Deterioration of the Royalist position caused her to flee to France in July 1644, and she never again saw her husband, who was executed after a trial ordered by Parliament in 1649.

In Paris she settled for a time in the Louvre and later in the Palais Royal, but she played little further part in politics. An attempt to convert her youngest son, Henry, duke of Gloucester, to Roman Catholicism alienated her from her eldest son, Prince Charles (the future Charles II). She founded a convent at Chaillot where she spent much time. After the Restoration she visited England (October 1660) and was granted a pension of £60,000 a year. She paid two further visits to England but was not comfortable there and finally returned to France in 1665. Learn More in these related articles: 1000+ images about Henrietta Maria on Pinterest | Portrait, House of stuart and England Forward Prince Henry Stuart (1640 - 1660). Son of King Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria, the elder brother of future Charles I of England. He should become the King but died young; Charles I got the crown, the country and the king's death.

See More The Stuart Dynasty - British Monarchy Family History British Monarchy Family History The Royal House of Stuart was the ruling royal dynasty of England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland for one hundred and eleven years, by way of seven monarchs from 1603 until 1714. The years between 1642 and 1651 were a period of time which saw several bloody battles known as the English Civil Wars. This led to a period of time between 1649 and 1660 as the Dissolution of the Monarchy, an eleven year period during which the monarchy was overthrown and leadership of the country was by a de-facto council of state under the leadership of Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell. Upon the death of the last Tudor monarch Queen Elisabeth I in 1603 who died without issue, the monarchy was taken over by James VI of Scotland. He was the son of Mary Queen of Scots, the first cousin to Elisabeth I, and in the eyes of some, particularly England's Catholics, was considered the legitimate monarch of England.

She had been compelled to abdicate in favour of her only son James in 1567 when he was just thirteen months old. It was Mary Queen of Scots who changed the spelling of the family name from it's original Scottish spelling of Stewart to the French spelling of Stuart. It was also during the Stuart Dynasty that the Jacobean (1603 - 1714) and Caroline (1625 - 1642) periods of architecture, arts and fashion existed. Of the seven men and women who became Stuart monarchs only one of them, King Charles II, was actually born heir to the throne. JAMES I OF ENGLAND JAMES VI OF SCOTLAND James was born at Edinburgh Castle on the nineteenth of June 1566 and was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots and Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. He became King Of Scotland in July 1567 at the age of just thirteen months, after his mother had been compelled to abdicate in his favour. At the age of thirty seven James VI of Scotland became James I of England and Ireland and was warmly welcomed and received by both the government and the people.

James was rapturously welcomed when he arrived in London on July the seventh 1603, with most of the country thoroughly grateful that the transition from English queen to Scottish king had come about without civil unrest or war. James was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey just a few weeks later on the 25th of July, almost thirty six years to the day that he had become King of Scotland. James is possibly best remembered for installing the union flag in 1606. The flag, also wrongly known as the Union Jack, consists of three flags, the flag of St Andrew for Scotland which consists of a white saltire on a blue background, the flag of St Patrick for Ireland which consists of a red saltire on a white background and the cross of St George for England which consists of a red cross on a white background. For some reason there has never been a representation of the flag of Wales.

James' reign is also noted for his translation of the Christian Bible, known as the King James Bible, which he had commissioned between 1604 and 1611 in an attempt to make it a little less conservative than the previous two translations which had been commissioned by King Henry VIII in 1535, which was known as the Great Bible, and the Church of England's work in 1568, which was known as the Bishop's Bible. James' reign also styled the Jacobean Period of architecture, arts and fashion. James died from the effects of a stroke on the 27th of March 1625 and was later interred in Westminster Abbey. ANNE OF DENMARK James married Anne of Denmark (1574 - 1619) by proxy, when Anne was just fourteen years old, in August 1589 and formally at the Bishop's Palace in Oslo in November of the same year. Anne was born at Skandeborg Castle in Denmark on the 12th of December 1575 and was the daughter of King Fredrick II of Denmark and Norway and Sophie of Mecklenburg - Gustrow.

It has been said that James preferred the company of men, both socially and sexually, but this has been rebuffed, particularly as he fathered twelve children with Anne. Their marriage, although amiable, did not last the test of time however and although they never divorced they did go on to lead separate lives. James had The Queen's House, at Greenwich Park in London built for Anne in 1614, which is where she spent the remainder of her life until her death at the age of 44 on the 2nd of March, 1619. Anne had been a patron of the arts, and her her former house in Greenwich now houses the world's largest collection of maritime art. Anne had twelve pregnancies during her marriage to King James, two were stillborn, three miscarried and of the seven births that went into infancy, only three lived into adulthood. Their children were; Henry, Prince of Wales - (1594 -1612). lived until his 18th year, when it is said he died from typhoid. Elisabeth Stuart - (1596 - 1612).

Their eldest daughter, Elisabeth was named after the Queen Elisabeth I of England. Part of the gunpowder plot of 1605 was to kidnap the then nine year old Princess Elisabeth of Scotland, and put her on the throne of England. On Valentine's Day 1613, Elisabeth married Fredrick V Elector of Palantine, Germany. Although their union was an arranged affair in order that King James could curry favour with other Protestant European royalty, it would seem that their marriage was indeed a love match, which was by all accounts a loving and romantic union. Elisabeth was crowned Queen Consort of Bohemia and Palantine Elect on the 7th of November 1619. The royal couple had thirteen children, ten of which grew into adulthood, and it is from their twelth child, Princess Sophia of Hanover, that the present British Royal family hail, by way of the Royal House of Hanover descendant, King George I. Their children were; Fredrick Henry - (1614 - 1629), accidental death by drowning. Charles Louie - (1617 - 1680).

Elisabeth - (1618 - 1680). Rupert - (1619 - 1682). Maurice - (1620 - 1652). Louise Marie - (1622 - 1709). Ludwig. - (1624 - 1624), died aged four months. Edward - (1625 - 1663). Henrietta Maria - (1626 - 1651).Johann Phillip - (1627 - 1650). Charlotte - (1628 - 1631). Sophia - (1630 - 1714).Gustav Adolphus. - (1632 - 1641). Of these ten children Princess Sophia was to become the most important in terms of royal lineage for Britain. She married Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover in 1658, making her Electress Princess Sophia of Hanover. They had many children, of which seven lived into adulthood.

In 1701 Princess Sophia was made heiress presumptive to the throne of England by way of the Act of Settlement, after the death of Prince William of Norway. She was chosen as the future Queen of England because she was a direct descendant of the Stuart royal family and, most importantly, a Protestant. In being chosen as heiress presumptive, this would deny the rightful Stuart heir to the throne, who was a Catholic. Sophia died in 1714, forty six years before the British throne became vacant. Due to this the crown was given to her first born son George, who became King George I of England and the predecessor of the present British Royal Family. Margaret Stuart - (1598 - 1600). Died in infancy. Charles Stuart - (1600 - 1649). Future King of England, Ireland and Scotland. He married Princess Henrietta Maria of France in 1625 and produce eight children, two of which would become future monarchs. Robert Stuart - (1602 - 1602). Died in infancy. Mary Stuart - (1605 - 1607). Died in infancy.

Sophia Stuart - (June 1607). Died in early infancy. CHARLES I Charles was born on the nineteenth of November 1600 at Dunfermline Palace in Scotland. He was King James' and Queen Anne's fourth child and second born son. Due to this he was never actually groomed to be king but became heir to the throne after the death of his brother Henry, Prince of Wales, who died from typhoid at the age of eighteen in 1612. Charles was therefore crowned king at Westminster Abbey on the second of February 1626. His twenty four year reign saw conflict with the government, civil unrest among the masses, civil war and his subsequent execution in front of the Banqueting Hall in Whitehall, London on the 30th of January 1649. All of which culminated in the overthrow of the government, during which time power was given to Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, which led to six years of puritanical rule in England, Ireland and Scotland.

The word cavalier, which means someone who is arrogant, disdainful or indifferent to important matters, was coined after the actions of King Charles I, which is somehow harsh as he was probably more naive and foolish than arrogant or disdainful, as it has been recorded that he was very accommodating, easily led by others and very quick to see the good in others. The king was in fact such a refined and gentle person that during the reign of his son, Charles II, he was venerated as a saint of the Anglican Church, where he is now known as Saint Charles Stuart or King Charles the Martyr. He was canonised in 1660 and his feast day is held on the date of his death, the 30th of January. King Charles was buried at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. It was also during Charles' reign that the Caroline Period of fashion and arts was styled. The term comes from the Latin word for Charles which was Carolus. HENRIETTA MARIA OF FRANCE Charles was also a handsome and charming man which led to him taking many lovers before his eventual marriage in 1625.

One of his unions produced a daughter, Joanna Brydges who was born in 1619, who was both recognised and subsequently cared for by the then Prince. Joanna was brought up in secrecy in Wales and would later go on to marry well and live in Ireland. Charles was married on the 11th of May 1625 at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris to Henrietta Maria Of France (1609 - 1669) a union so frowned upon that it needed a special dispensation from the Pope, as Henrietta was a Catholic and Charles a protestant, as never before had a Protestant Prince and a Catholic Princess married. There was of course very good reason for this, as it was done in order to forge an alliance between England and France which in turn would work against the might of the Spanish. Henrietta was born at the Louvre Palace in Paris on the 25th of November 1609 and was the daughter of King Henri IV of France and Marie de Medici. She bore the king eight children during their marriage, four of which would grow into adulthood and two of which would become monarchs of England. They were; Charles James, Prince of Wales.

- Stillborn on the thirteenth of March 1629. Charles. - (1630 - 1685) .Future King of England, Ireland and Scotland. Mary, Princess Royal - (1631 - 1660). she married William II of Orange at the age of nine. They had one child, a son, who would become King William III of Orange and England. James. - (1633 - 1701). Future King of England and Scotland.He married Catherine Braganza in 1662 but produced no heirs. Elisabeth. - (1635 - 1650). Died in childhood. Anne. - (1637 - 1640). Died in childhood. Henry, Duke of Gloucester, Earl of Cambridge - (1640 - 1660). Henrietta. - (1644 - 1670).

She married Phillip Duke of Orleans and France in March 1661.This union produced two children, Marie Louise - (1662 - 1689), who would become the Queen of Spain and Anne Marie - (1669 - 1728), who would become the Queen of Sardinia. Henrietta Maria died on the 10th of September 1669 and was buried at the Royal Basilica of Saint Denis in Paris. OLIVER CROMWELL Oliver Cromwell became the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Ireland and Scotland on the 25th of December 1653 and governed for five years before his death on the 3rd of September 1658. Oliver Cromwell was born in Huntingdon on the 25th of April 1599. He was the son of Robert Cromwell and his wife Elisabeth Steward. After studying at Cambridge Oliver became a gentleman farmer before embarking on a political career where he became member of parliament for Huntingdon in 1628 and then for Cambridge between 1640 and 1649.

He is most famously remembered for his many military victories during the English Civil War (1642 - 1651), where he fought on the side of the parliamentarians. He became Lord Protector of England, Ireland and Scotland after the execution of King Charles I in 1649 and ruled the three countries for five years. Cromwell was a puritanical, religious zealot who became nothing short of a dictator. He was also instrumental in the genocide of thousands of Irish and Scottish Catholics. By the time of his death in 1658 the people of England, Ireland and Scotland were so glad to see the back of him that Royalist supporters dug up his corpse, hung it up and then decapitated it. During the English Civil War supporters of King Charles I and his son King Charles II were known as Royalists or Cavaliers and supporters of Oliver Cromwell were known as Parliamentarians, Ironsiders or Roundheads. Oliver died from septiceamia following a urinary infection on the third of September 1658 at Whitehall in London at the age of fifty nine.

Although he would be posthumously hanged for war crimes by the masses, he was later given a state funeral and interred at Westminster Abbey in London. After the death of Oliver Cromwell he was succeeded by his son Richard. Richard was born in Huntingdon on the 4th of October 1626 and was the fourth child and third born son of Oliver Cromwell and his wife Elisabeth Bouchier. Despite the parliamentarians electing his father as Lord Protector, owing to Richard Cromwell's even harsher treatment of the army and the government, he was ousted by the very same parliament just nine months later in May of 1658. Fearing for his life Richard left his wife, Dorothy Maijor (1620 - 1675) and their nine children and under various assumed names went to live in exile in France for the next twenty two years. He eventually returned to England in 1681 and lived in Cheshunt in Hertfordshire for the next thirty years before he died there in July of 1712 at the age of 85.

ELISABETH BOUCHIER On the 22nd of August 1620 Oliver Cromwell married Elisabeth Bouchier, the eldest daughter of leather merchant Sir James Bouchier and his wife Frances Crane, at Cripplegate in London. Elisabeth has been described as a homely woman who was a good mother and loving wife, although due to her husband's tyrannical ways during his time as Lord Protector, she was considered by to be as bad as he was by the general public. Their union together produced nine children, they were; Robert (1621 - 1639). Oliver (1622 - 1644). Bridget (1624 - 1681). Richard (1626 - 1712). Henry (1628 - 1674). Elisabeth (1629 - 1658). James (1632). Mary (1637 - 1713). Frances (1638 - 1720). After Oliver's death in 1658 Elisabeth went into hiding.

Records show that she spent some time in Wales, before finally going to live with her daughter Elisabeth and her husband John Claypole in Northborough, near Peterborough. She died there sometime in November of 1665 and was later buried at Northborough Church on the 19th of November 1665. CHARLES II King Charles II was born at St James Place in London on the 29th of May 1630. He was the son of King Charles I and his wife Queen Henrietta Maria, making Charles the only Royal House of Stuart monarch who was an heir apparent. Charles' first coronation was performed at Scone in Scotland three years after the execution of his father on the 1st of January, 1651, but he ruled for only two years before being ousted by parliament and a de-facto council of state led by Oliver Cromwell took power. During the time of Cromwell's protectorate Charles had lived in exile in France and The Netherlands, before coming home in 1660 to begin a period of British history known as the Restoration of the Monarchy.

Charles returned to England on the 23rd of April 1660 and entered London on the 29th of May, which was also his thirtieth birthday. This date is now known as Oak Apple Day and was for centuries a public holiday in England which celebrated the Restoration of the Monarchy. Traditional celebrations often entailed the wearing of oak apples or sprigs of oak leaves, in reference to when Charles hid in an oak tree to escape the Roundhead Army during the Battle of Worcester in September 1651. Anyone who failed to display an oak apple or sprig of oak leaves upon their person, on this most auspicious of days, risked being thrashed with nettles. Charles' second coronation was held at Westminster Abbey on St George's Day (23rd April) 1661. Charles' reign is probably best remembered for overseeing the Great Plague of London, which was caused by rats which carried bubonic plague, and claimed the lives of 100,000 people, around 15% of London's population.

This was followed one year later by the Great Fire of London in 1666, which would be both a tragedy and a blessing, as the carnage which was caused by the fire culminated in vast improvements in hygiene, fire safety and building reforms and resulted in the deaths of most of the rats which caused the bubonic plague. Charles would also begin the process which would venerate his executed father as a saint into the Anglican Church. Charles was known to be a great lover of the miniature dog known as the Toy Spaniel, which was renamed the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel in his honour by the British Kennel Club in 1903. Charles died from the affects of an apoplectic fit on the morning of the sixth of February 1685. At the time his sudden demise had been attributed to poisoning, but it has since been verified that he may have been suffering from a kidney disease known as uraemia. Charles was later interred at Westminster Abbey. CATHERINE OF BRAGANZA Charles was married to Catherine Braganza (1638 - 1705), a Portugese Catholic, by proxy on the 23rd of April 1662 in Lisbon.

Catherine was born at the Ducal Palace at Vila Vicosa in Portugal on the 25th of November 1638 and was the daughter of King John IV of Portugal and Luisa of Medina - Sidonia. Catherine is probably best remembered for bringing the art of tea drinking to England and for starting the practice of using dining forks at mealtimes.Other than this little is actually known of Catherine as it has been noted that she played a very small part in court life. Some historians believe this to be because the very pious Catherine was sshamed of her husband's debauched lifestyle. Although their marriage was childless Charles had never once considered divorce, even though he had been strongly advised to do so by his governmental advisers owing to Catherine being a catholic. Catherine died in Portugal at the age of sixty four on New Years Eve 1705, seven years after the death of her husband, and was buried at the Pantheon of the Braganzas in the Monastery of Sao Vicente de Fora in Lisbon.

BARBARA PALMER, nee VILLIERS Queen Catherine suffered many miscarriages during her marriage to Charles, resulting in the couple having no legitimate heirs, which is somewhat ironic considering Charles had thirteen recognised illegitimate children by seven long term mistresses. They were - By mistress Lucy Walter (1630–1658) - Charles' first illegitimate son was born James Croft (1649 - 1685) but was later titled James, Duke of Monmouth. He was born when Charles was just eighteen years old and living in exile in Rotterdam in the Netherlands on the ninth of April 1649. James later married wealthy Scottish heiress Anne Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch on the twentieth of April 1663 and took on her family name of Scott.

The couple went on to have seven children, they were - Isabella (1671 - 1748), Charles (1672 - 1674), James (1674 - 1705), Anne (1675 - 1685), Henry (1676 - 1679), Francis (1678 - 1679) & Charlotte (1683). James was executed in London on the 15th of July 1685 after having led the battle for the crown known as the Monmouth Rebellion. He was later buried in the Peter ad Vincula chapel in the Tower of London.

By mistress Elizabeth Killigrew (1622–1680) Maid of honour to Charles' mother Queen Henrietta Maria - Charlotte Jemima FitzRoy (1650–1684) By mistress Catherine Pegge (b1635) - Charles FitzCharles (1657–1680) Created Earl of Plymouth - Catherine FitzCharles (1658) By mistress Barbara Palmer nee Villiers (1641–1709) Lady Castlemaine & Duchess of Cleveland - Lady Anne Palmer (1661–1722) - Charles Fitzroy (1662–1730) Created Duke of Southampton & 2nd Duke of Cleveland - Henry Fitzroy (1663–1690) Created Earl of Euston & Duke of Grafton - Charlotte Fitzroy (1664–1717) - George Fitzroy (1665–1716) Created Duke of Northumberland.

By mistress Nell Gwyn (1650 - 1687) Actress - Charles Beauclerk (1670–1726) Created Duke of St Albans and James Lord Beauclerk (1671–1680). By mistress Louise Renée de Penancoet de Kérouaille (1649–1734) The Duchess of Portsmouth - Charles Lennox (1672–1723) Created Duke of Richmond and Lennox. By mistress Mary 'Moll' Davis (1648 - 1708) Courtesan and actress - Lady Mary Tudor (1673–1726). Other recognised mistresses of Charles also included a Christabella Wyndham, Hortense Mancini the Duchess of Mazarin, maid of honour Winifred Wells, a Jane Roberts, Elizabeth Berkeley the Countess of Falmouth and Elizabeth Fitzgerald the Countess of Kildare, making his thirteen recognised concubines/mistresses the largest number of any British monarch.

JAMES II OF ENGLAND JAMES VII OF SCOTLAND As King Charles II had died without legitimate issue the throne was handed to his younger brother James. James, Duke of York was born on the 14th of October 1633 at St James Palace in London and was the last Catholic monarch of the British Isles after having secretly converted to Catholicism in 1669. After his brother's death on the sixth of February 1685 the duke became King James VII of Scotland and King James II of England and Ireland and was crowned, along with his second wife Mary of Modena, on St George's Day (23rd April) of that same year, at Westminster Abbey in London. James reigned for only three years before fleeing the country, therefore technically abdicating, during the Glorious Revolution of 1688. James and his family went to live at the Chateau de Sainte Germain in Sainte Germaine en Laye just outside Paris in France. He died there just three years later, from a stroke, on the 16th of September 1701. He was later interred at the nearby Church of the English Benedictines in Paris.

Following his death the Act of Settlement 1701 was introduced by parliament. This act prohibited Catholics from inheriting the British throne. That law still remains to this day although the Succession of the Crown Act 2013 means that a future monarch can now marry a Catholic without having to denounce his or her rightful place upon the throne. ANNE HYDE James was married twice, first to Anne Hyde (1638 - 1671) whom he married in a secret ceremony in the Netherlands on the third of September 1660. Anne was born at Cranbourne Lodge in Windsor, Berkshire and was the daughter of Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarenden and Frances Aylesbury of Windsor. Anne was a commoner and the the lady in waiting to James's younger sister Anne. It was whilst she held this position that James seduced her and made her pregnant. Anne, who became the Duchess of York upon her marriage, was a rather large lady and not considered very pretty, leaving James not at all happy at having to marry her, but was forced to do so by his elder brother Charles, who apparently thought that family life and marriage to the strong willed Anne, would curb his rakish ways.

Unfortunately their baby was stillborn, as were another five of their babies. However the couple did manage to produce two live births, both of them female and both of whom would grow up to become future queens of England and Scotland. They were; Mary (1662 - 1694) and Anne (1665. - 1714). It was after the birth of an eighth child on the ninth of February 1671, a girl that only lived for a few days, that Anne became critically unwell. It was thought that she was in the early stages of breast cancer and that the effort of pregnancy and childbirth had severely exacerbated her condition. Anne died on the 31st of March 1671 at the age of thirty three and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Anne was the last commoner to marry an heir presumptive or heir apparent to the throne, until Lady Diana Spencer married Charles, Prince of Wales in 1981. MARY OF MODENA James' second wife was the Italian beauty Mary of Modena (1658 - 1718) whom he married by proxy on the 30th of September 1673.

Mary was born at the Ducal Palace in Modena, Italy on the 5th of October 1658 and was the daughter of Alfonso IV, first Duke of Modena and Laura Martinozzi. It was during his second marriage to Mary Modena that James became King and Mary became crowned Queen Consort. Just like Anne before her Mary also suffered many miscarriages before finally producing six live births, although other than one son and one daughter four of their children died in childhood, three in the year of their birth. Unlike Anne however Mary did not suffer her husband's many affairs and openly showed her contempt for him and his mistresses in public. Mary and James' children were Catherine who was born in 1675, Isabel who lived between 1676 and 1681, Charles who was born in 1677 and Charlotte who was born in 1682. The two children who did live into adulthood were; James Francis Edward Stuart, Prince of Wales.

(1688 - 1766) He married Maria Clementina Sobieska, the daughter of James Louis Sobieska of Poland and Hedwig Elisabeth of Neuberg, in September 1719. This union produced two children, Charles Edward Stuart - (1720 - 1788) - AKA Bonnie Price Charlie - and Henry Benedict Stuart - (1725 - 1807), who would grow up to become the longest serving Papal cardinal in history, from 1761 to 1807. Louisa Maria Theresa Stuart (1692 - 1712) The young Princess died at the age of only 20 on the 18th of April 1712. She was the couples only surviving child and her death sent Mary into a decline that saw her fall into religious mania and succumb to many physical ailments. Mary also like Anne before her, died of breast cancer on the 7th of May 1718, seventeen years after the death of her husband. She was interred in the Convent of the Visitations in Chaillot in France.

ARABELLA CHURCHILL During his marriage to Anne Hyde the Duchess of York James had conducted a long term affair with her maid of honour Arabella Churchill (1648 - 1730) with whom he had four recognised, illegitimate children. Arabella was born on the 23rd of February 1648 and was the daughter of Sir Winston Churchill (ancestor of British war time Prime Minister, Winston Churchill) and his wife Elisabeth Drake. During her affair with James she had four children, they were, Henrietta FitzJames (1667 - 1730), James FitzJames 1st Duke of Berwick (1670 - 1734), Henry FitzJames 1st Duke of Albemarle (1673 - 1702) and Arabella FitzJames (1674 - 1704). Through her daughter Henrietta's marriage, Arabella would become an ancestor of the future Princes of Wales, Diana Spencer.

In 1678 Arabella married a Colonel Charles Godfrey MP (1648 - 1714) with whom she also had four children, they were; Charlotte Godfrey (1670 - 1754), Francis Godfrey (1681 - 1712) and Diana and Elisabeth, both of whose birth and death dates are unknown. Arabella died on the 30th of May 1730 and was later interred at Westminster Abbey. CATHERINE SEDLEY Despite being married to one of the most beautiful women in Europe James also conducted a long term affair with Queen Mary's maid of honour Catherine Sedley (1657 - 1717) with whom he had three recognised, illegitimate children. Catherine was born on the 21st of December 1657 and was the daughter of politician Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet of Aylesbury, and his wife Catherine Savage. During her affair with the king she bore him three children, they were; Catherine Darnley (1681 - 1743) Charles Darnley (1686).

In 1703 Catherine was given a life peerage and subsequently became known as the Countess of Dorchester. After her affair with James she went on to marry David Colyear, the Earl of Portmore, in 1696 and bore him two sons, David, Viscount Mislington (1698 - 1729) and Charles, the second Earl of Portmore (1700 - 1785). Catherine died in Bath on the 26th of October 1717 and was at first interred there but upon the death of her husband in 1729 she was exhumed and re-interred alongside him at the Portmore family burial vault at Weybridge Church in Surrey. King James had also conducted some high profile affairs with several other notable women, including Lady Anne Carnegie the Countess of Southesk, Elizabeth Stanhope the Countess of Chesterfield, Lady Susanna the Baroness of Belasyse, Lady Elizabeth Denham, Lady Jane Middleton and maids of honour Goditha Price and Mary Kirke.

WILLIAM AND MARY After the abdication of King James II, the British Parliament called upon his nephew and son in law, William of Orange and his wife Mary Stuart to take the English throne.Their union now saw two Protestant monarchs on the throne of England. King William was the son of the Dutch Prince William II and Mary Stuart, the Princess Royal. He was born in The Hague on the 14th of November 1650, and through his mother, Mary Stuart, was cousin to his wife, also called Mary Stuart. Queen Mary was the daughter of King James II and Ann Hyde and was born on the 30th of April 1662, at St James Palace in London. William and Mary were married on the 4th of November 1677 at St James' Palace in London. Mary became pregnant soon after their marriage but miscarried a few weeks later whilst on a trip to Breda in the Netherlands. It has been been said that she never again conceived. It's possible that the miscarriage caused her medical problems which caused her to become infertile but the most commonly held belief was that her husband was homosexual and never slept with her again.

It was common knowledge that William openly took male lovers, the most famous of which were the two Dutch noblemen Hans Willem Bentinck (1649 - 1709) whom the king gave the title of 1st Earl Portland and Arnold Joost van Keppel (1679 - 1718) whom the king gave the title of 1st Earl of Arlbemarle. THE CLIVEDEN ESTATE After their joint coronation at Westminster Abbey in London on the eleventh of April 1689, King William III and Queen Mary II of England, Ireland and Scotland, to give them their official titles, became the only British monarchs in British royal history to have joint sovereignty and equal powers. Their reign is probably best remembered for the beginning of the Glorious Revolution of 1658 , the signing of the English Bill of Rights in 1689 and the introduction of Stamp Duty in 1694, all of which saw the end of absolute monarchy and more powers fall to parliament. It also saw the end of Catholic monarchs, as the British monarch is head of the Church of England a purely Anglican faith.

Their combined reign also oversaw the beginning of the Scottish Jacobite Rebellions which began in 1689 and followed again in 1715, 1719 and 1745. Mary, despite being a tall (she was 5 feet 11 inches tall) fit and very athletic young woman succumbed to the ravages of smallpox on the 28th of December 1694. She was later interred in Westminster Abbey in London. Mary's untimely death left William bereft and he reigned alone for the next twelve years before his own death on March the 8th 1702. William had died from a bout of pneumonia which had been brought on by a broken collarbone which he had sustained in a riding accident in Kennington in south London. William was later interred next to Queen Mary in Westminster Abbey, London on the 19th of March of the same year. As both William and Mary had died without issue the British crown was then handed to Mary's younger sister Anne Stuart.

ANNE Anne was born at St James' Palace in London on the sixth of February 1665, the fourth child of James, Duke of York and Anne Hyde. Anne came to the throne upon the death of her brother - in - law William of Orange in 1702 and was crowned queen at Westminster Abbey on St George's Day (23rd April) of the same year. When Anne took the crown in 1702 she became Queen of England and Scotland as well as the sovereign of Ireland and France. Anne's reign is probably best remembered for her signing of the The Act of Union, a treaty that united the two kingdoms of Scotland and England on the first of May 1707. From that day the two countries were known as Great Britain, making Anne officially the last Queen of Scotland and the last Queen of England. When Anne died on 1st of August 1714 at the age of forty nine, apparently from a severe streptococcus infection, she was the last monarch of the House of Stuart, ending a one hundred and eleven year rule by the Stuart Dynasty of Scotland, Ireland, England and Great Britain. She was later interred at Westminster Abbey.

Anne was succeeded by her second cousin, King George I, the first British monarch of the Royal House of Hanover. PRINCE GEORGE OF DENMARK Anne married Prince George of Denmark (1653 - 1708) on the 28th of July 1683 at the Chapel Royal in St James' Palace in London, some nine years before she became queen. George was born at Copenhagen Castle in Denmark on the second of April, 1653 and was the son of Fredrick III of Denmark and Sophie Amalie of Brunswick - Luneburg. Although an arranged marriage it would appear that it was a successful union despite both of them suffering much heartache owing to Anne having endured eighteen pregnancies between 1684 and 1700 which resulted in four miscarriages, eight stillbirths and six live births of which only five lived into their second year. WILLIAM, DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, PRINCE OF NORWAY The couple did have one son however who lived over the age of two, Prince William the Duke of Gloucester and Prince of Norway, who was born on the 24th of June 1689.

Throughout his life he had been a sickly child and eventually died aged eleven, supposedly of either smallpox or scarlet fever, at Windsor Castle on the 30th of July 1700. He was later interred at the family vault in Westminster Abbey. Just like Prince William all of Anne and George's children, even the stillborn, were given the title Prince / Princess of Norway / Denmark. George and Anne were married for twenty five years before the death of the prince at the age of 55 on the 28th of October 1708. He was later interred in the family vault at Westminster Abbey. Anne took the Prince's death very badly and mourned his loss right up until her own death six years later on the first of August 1714. She was later interred alongside her husband and son in their family vault at Westminster Abbey. BBC - History - James II z James II © James was a Stuart king of England, Scotland and Ireland who in 1688 was overthrown in the 'Glorious Revolution' by William III.

James was born on 14 October 1633 to Charles I and his French wife, Henrietta Maria and was named after his grandfather, James I and VI. During the English Civil War he was captured but fled to exile on the continent. He distinguished himself a soldier, returning to England at the Restoration of his brother, Charles II, in 1660. He commanded the Royal Navy from1660 to1673. In 1660, James married Anne Hyde, daughter of Charles II's chief minister and they had two surviving children, Mary and Anne. In 1669, James converted to Catholicism and took a stand against a number of anti-Catholic moves, including the Test Act of 1673. This did not impede his succession to the throne on Charles' death in 1685. Later that year James faced rebellion, led by Charles II's illegitimate son the Duke of Monmouth. The rebellion was easily crushed after the battle of Sedgemoor in 1685, and savage punishments were imposed by the infamous lord chief justice, Judge Jeffreys, at the 'Bloody Assizes'. Monmouth himself was messily beheaded.

This, together with James's attempts to give civic equality to Roman Catholic and Protestant dissenters, led to conflict with parliament. In 1685, James prorogued it and ruled alone. He attempted to promote Catholicism by appointing Catholics to military, political and academic posts. In 1687, he issued a Declaration of Indulgence aiming at complete religious toleration and instructed Anglican clergy to read it from their pulpits. In June 1688, James's second wife Mary of Modena, gave birth to a son, James Francis Edward. Fearing that a Catholic succession was now assured, a group of Protestant nobles appealed to William of Orange, husband of James's older, and Protestant, daughter Mary. In November, William landed with an army in Devon. Deserted by an army and navy who he had completely alienated, James completely lost his nerve and fled abroad. In February 1689, parliament declared that James's flight constituted an abdication and William and Mary were crowned joint monarchs. In March 1689, James landed in Ireland where, with French support, he raised an army.

He was defeated by William at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690. James died in exile in Saint-Germain in France on 16 September 1701. Government Art Collection - Art Work Details GAC 1305 Tab Label (see title) Henrietta Maria, the French wife of King Charles I, was the subject of several portraits by Anthony van Dyck, the leading court painter of the time. This is a copy of one of his finest paintings. It shows Henrietta wearing a deep yellow dress with lace collar and cuffs. The dress is richly decorated with pearls and a black ribbon is tied around her waist. The position of the Queen’s arms is an indication that she is pregnant. This is also suggested by her waistband, decorated with a rosette (flowers were often used as a symbol of fertility and motherhood) and by the tiny royal crown on the table by her side. The Queen’s daughter, Princess Anne, was born on 17 March 1637.

Tab Label (see title) This work contains the following subjects; choose a subject below to cross-refer to other works in the collection: Henrietta Maria - OpenLearn - Open University Henrietta Maria Updated Sunday 7th January 2001 Introductory level Print Henrietta Maria was only fifteen when she married Charles I and the union was motivated by diplomatic considerations. At the time of her marriage, J.P. Kenyon describes her as being 'a gawky adolescent, with enormous eyes, bony wrists, projecting teeth and a minimal figure. At the sight of her new husband, she burst into tears'. Despite such inauspicious beginnings, Charles and Henrietta Maria's relationship blossomed into one of the most affectionate love matches of the Stuart era. Charles and Henrietta Maria's private relationship thrived on a shared passion for arts and culture. Charles was an enthusiastic art collector and championed artists such as Holbein, Rembrandt, Rubens and Raphael. Sir Anthony Van Dyck was a particular favourite who produced 36 portraits of the King, 25 of Henrietta Maria, and numerous paintings of the royal children. These paintings of the royal children are considered to be among his best work.

Architecture and design was another shared passion, and Inigo Jones was a major beneficiary of royal support. Jones designed the Banqueting House in Whitehall for James VI/I and it quickly became a favoured location for masques organised by Charles and Henrietta Maria. Greenwich House was another much-liked residence which Henrietta Maria dubbed her 'House of Delight'. Charles and Henrietta Maria spent six weeks there in the summer of 1635 enjoying the 'pleasures of the chase', and Henrietta Maria added two rooms onto the main building. However, it was probably in their shared love of the masque- court spectacles which combined music with dancing, poetry, scenery and dramatic costume- that their enthusiasms overlapped most completely. Charles and his wife loved to present masques for each other and enjoyed wearing the Chief Masquer's costume. Henrietta Maria shocked the conservative mores of the age by appearing on stage during a masque, something which was considered risque for a woman of her status. However, such pleasures were curtailed after 1640 as the Stuart kingdoms lurched towards war.

While Charles and Henrietta Maria's private relationship was a major success, publicly and politically it was a disaster for Henrietta Maria, the daughter of the French King, was a practising Catholic, and Puritan zealots interpreted this as further proof of the King's desire to push England towards Catholicism. The Queen's court circle became a focus for Vatican envoys, Spanish diplomats and fey young nobles attracted to the romance of her Catholicism, while Henrietta Maria's diplomatic links with France and the Vatican provoked further suspicion and resentment. Creative commons image mharrsch under CC-BY-NC-SA licence under Creative-Commons license Henrietta Maria by Van Dyck In such highly charged times, even innocent pleasures such as masquing carried religious and political overtones. In 1632, the Puritan William Prynne published a pamphlet denouncing the evils of the stage and the use of female actors. Henrietta Maria, who had appeared on stage during a masque, was particularly incensed by this attack and demanded action from her husband. Prynne was fined and imprisoned in 1632, pilloried in 1634 and partly shorn of his ears.

The Puritans were horrified, hatred for Charles intensified and connections between politics, religion and culture became explicit. As the three kingdoms and Wales approached war, Henrietta Maria assumed a more direct role in shaping and formulating Royal policy but this probably did more harm than good. The Queen labelled herself 'the She Majesty Generalissima' during this era and her influence undoubtedly reinforced Charles' tendency towards intransigence and inflexibility. John Pym and the Puritans detested Henrietta Maria and tried to link her to the outbreak of rebellion in Ireland in late 1641. When rumours began to circulate that Pym proposed to impeach the Queen, Henrietta Maria urged Charles to arrest those who criticised her and opposed him. Charles' disastrous attempt to arrest Pym and his allies in January 1642 created a massive breach in trust between King and Parliament which accelerated the slide towards war.

Question: Henrietta Maria was the French wife of which British monarch?
Answer: King Charles I